NGC 1156 in Aries - Lovely local galaxy..

[mdstuart]

Found three more galaxies tonight but the best by far was NGC 1156 in Aries.

Lovely low surface brightness glow next to a mag 13 field star.

Seems to be a local galaxy 16 million light years away and is similar to the Magellanic galaxies of our milky way system.

Here is a Hubble pic of it....

Its mag 11 but its surface brightness is mag 14 and this is the challenge.

I could not see its companion the "dark galaxy" that they found nearby!

Very nice..

Mark

[cotterless45]

Nice find. Aries is well placed at the moment, Cetus also is proving a happy hunting ground,

Nick.

[Mike73]

Is this from home (LM 5.5) Mark and was this out of reach of your old 10"?

I'm finding that now I've started on a slightly more advanced list than the Messiers the objects are slightly harder to spot but like this galaxy a little more quirky and fun.

[mdstuart]

Nick

Yes Cetus is a good area, lots of galaxies...Like the log book.

I put my observations in to access and then I can run reports like this. Its all the galaxies I have observed from the brightest to the faintest..

Seen galaxies.pdf

Mike - yes its from home 5.5 mag sky..with the 14 inch..

I know...... I am fouling up my records of galaxies you can see with a 10 inch scope by getting the 14 inch.... but I do keep a note of which scope was used so I will have to update my report to highlight the 14 inch observations.

Mark

[Double Kick Drum]

Thanks for sharing the 'Seen Galaxies' file. A 32 page list is testament to some dedicated Astronomy!

I have seen mag. 11 galaxies and also those with a s.br of 14 but I think the combination (NGC 1156) is beyond my 127mm refractor. One for future years when I convince my wife that a 12" dobsonian is the way forward.

Still, I am more than happy with my galaxy haul of 166 with my fairly modest equipment.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Very nice catch. I doubt if I could nab that from my garden. Might merit a visit to a dark site just to have a bash (weather permitting)

[mdstuart]

DKD and Michael

Thanks for your comments. it was not too tough....I guess an 8 inch would spot it under reasonable skies..

The Hubble pic shows how complex this little fuzzy is.

Mark

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

It does almost look like the SMC in that Hubble image

[mdstuart]

Give it a go Michael...it's right next to a field star so its fairly easy to know you are in the right place.

Mark

[acey]

I observed NGC 1156 with my 8" dob at a dark site on a very cold and blustery night in November 2007. My notes say:

"Moderately bright, fairly even surface brightness but gradually brighter to centre, no nucleus. Elongated north-south, just east of 3 similarly aligned stars. Galaxy has star on northern tip."

Looking at the image I can see the star, though my estimate of orientation was a bit out, as the galaxy is really extended NNE-SSW. Perhaps the star influenced my perception of the galaxy as a whole (that kind of thing can happen a lot). Steve Gottlieb's description at the NGC/IC Project (also using an 8") has "faint, diffuse, slightly elongated SSW-NNE. A mag 12.5 star is just NW of the NE flank". However my perception of north-south agrees with the NGC description: "pretty bright, considerably large, pretty much extended with position angle 0 degrees, between 2 stars."

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Still looks like clearing up this evening. I will give it a bash. I really hope to get at least four new galaxies tonight. My count has been stuck at 396 for far too long.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

The evening started promising, with large clear patches, and Venus looking stunning in the twilight, and then the clouds rolled in

Seriously disappointed.

[mdstuart]

I am sure the clouds can see astronomers and come out deliberately.

It was clear here but I played badminton.

Mark

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Real bummer. I had a couple of nice galaxies selected from the Shapley-Ames Catalogue, all with nice elevation, and every thing looked great until I got the scope out. I did see M31 through bins, along with M13, and the Double Cluster.

[Special K]

I put my observations in to access and then I can run reports like this. Its all the galaxies I have observed from the brightest to the faintest..

Seen galaxies.pdf

Whoa! That's a list and a half! Excellent effort to track all those down and organize the results too.